Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-26

p.
$ cost him nothin', 1 guess" In fact JIM
PRINCIPLES were not believed to be or
? thodoX. Be that as it may, he accepted
his conqueror's offer with something lik
gratitude; the pin and the bank not,
changed hands, and it may be stated here
: that the former was never redeemed. I
was good stone and John disposed of i
at the end of the month for $40.
This episode changed the direction Of
the young mans life. He did not become
& prize fighter, for it was discovered that
ne was too heavy for g lightweight sn(
too short for q heavy weight; but he
thenceforth sought the society of the
friends of the ring and of the race track
and OF 'sports'' of all kinds He betted
carefully and with Judgment, and won
much more than he lost. But his chief
hobby and that which brought him in the
largest and surest returns, was loaning
small sums to friends in embarrassment
on the security Of their jeWelry. He was
taken in once or twice by paste imita-
lions; but he took great pains to become
a good judge of stones, and was soon
beyond being imposed on. AS might be
expected, many of his associates made
their living by methods obnoxious
TO the law, and John could not but be
aware that the reason they were willing
to pledge their personal ad0rnments at
st so reasonable rate was that the only
| outlay they had made on them was a rup-
ture OF the Eighth Commandment, But
he also reflected that the lawful owner
OF the property would be no worse of for
ITS having been transferred to him, and
! That every one else concerned would be
! benefited thereby. He never did any
; conveying" himself, though whether on
moral grounds or for reasons of prudence
and eXpedieECy we need not inquire. But
by degrees he became q sort of walking
pawnshop, his habit of restricting his
transactions to diamonds and other
precious stones enabling him
to carry all his stock in trade
about his person; and later, he
relegated pawnbroklng to the second
place in his business, and let it be under
stood that WhOsCever had good stones to
sell would be sure to find an easy and
trustworthy customer in him; he bought
them outright, and afterwards sold them
again, sometimes to the same persons on
the tnstallment plan. If the installments
were not paid regularly he foreclosed,
Yet he was not Shylock; though he had
the reputation of being keen and reso-
lutte man of business, he was also held to
be kindly at bottom, and even generous
upon occasions. Thus he was the most
popular man in his peculiar line of in
dustry; and as ne was uniformly fortu-
nate in his transactions he presently
found himself growing rich.
II was then that he made up his mind
to modify his roaming life SO far as to
rent s shop and spend the greater part of
the day in it. But at dusk, when other
men of business went home to rest, john
D. Grady would issue from his door with
wellwoIn black satchel ia his hand and
pursue his way to the shady quarters of
the town, Or, occasionally and with Ger
tain precautions, to more fashionable
neighborhoods. Whichever way be went, |
and although he receiveda fair number Of |
bona ide customers at his shop, it was en- |
these nocturnal expeditions that by far !
larger portion Of Grady's transactions |
were effectde. II was then that his most |
important sales as well as his heaviest |
purchases were made, and it was then, |
doubtless, that the arrangements were !
entered into which involved further spec
ulatons.
There was no good reason, so far as
any one knew, why Grady should have
preferred to tramp abeut in this manner
instead OF sitting quietly and safely at
home and letting the world come to him.
On the other hand, there were plenty of
excellent reasons why he should pursue
the latter course. Every night OF his
life he ran risks to which probably no
other man in New York would have
dreamed Of exposing himself. With scores
4 thousands OF dollars worth Of diamonds
= mis- sachel and pockets, he would pene-
rate teGrlessly and alone in
% the very worst quarters
If the city. How ne escaped
murder, or robbery at least, was stand
ng marvel. True, he was known as
riend-at shy rate as ConTenienCe-to
he crooked portion OF the community; ;
-nd also as man Of nerve and Drawn,
Wiling and able to take his own part. ,
But III q great city there are always
,esperadOes enough to commit any crime
Or The benefit or on the temptation of /
ne moment, and without thinking or {
airing about ultimate results. Nor |
you'd the impulsiYeness of SUCH persons
e lessened by the well-knoWn fact that Z
srady carried no other weapon than 8 /
road-blsded knife, which he kept 40 his |
light sleeve. I
Probably Grady could have given no
etter explanation of his foolhardy con- I
uct than that it was his humor to do SO, {
nd that the vagabond habits OF his early /
lie were too strongly fixed upon him to i
e cast aside. His confidence was so far c
Justified that he neveT,so far as is known, :
anne TO grief save once, when he Was /
,aTroted by couple OF footpsds belong 6
ne TO the "Swamp Angels" gang and |
$4,000 worth of diamonds were taken I
rom his sstchel. But he took his mis- s
ap philosophically, admitting that he
sd brought 1t upon himself, and remark I
ne that il twas worth what it cost ]
inn" Nor, though he would have had 8
10 difficulty in identifying them, did {